Mustang Math Brings Collaboration, Fun to Middle School Math

Math has been a popular pastime at Westwood’s Thurston Middle School of late. Not only did the school recently host an inter-school math competition among Westwood’s elementary school students on March 26th, but just a few days prior on Saturday, March 22nd, the school was also the location of the Mustang Math competition, open to middle school students statewide.

“There’s so many lovely things you can do with math,” says Arpit Ranasaria, founder of the nonprofit organization, Mustang Math. He notes its importance in anything having to do with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related fields. “Especially when you get to college [ ] there’s a huge demand for people who really know the ins and outs of mathematics and can research deeply,” he says.

It is Ranasaria’s passion for math, and that of many high school volunteers, in part, which has brought the Mustang Math competition to Westwood's Thurston Middle School and other schools around the country.  

The efforts and collaboration of Thurston's after-school MathCounts advisor, David Lamb, and Thurston parent-volunteer Natsuko Kuwahara, have also been instrumental in getting Thurston students involved.

Of the approximate 50 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders from various schools in Massachusetts who participated in the day-long Mustang Math Tournament, there was “good representation” from Westwood’s Thurston students, says Sharon High School Senior Ankita Varigonda, regional event organizer for Massachusetts. Varigonda is one of over 100 high school students from the region and around the country involved in organizing Mustang Math Tournaments in Massachusetts and other states this year.

Alex Liu, a sophomore at Sharon High School, also volunteered. He notes that he is involved because he wants to help younger students improve their math skills while having fun.

Photo by David Chen, courtesy of Mustang Math. Founder and director of Mustang Math, Arpit Ranasaria (bottom row, center) is pictured with regional leader Ankita Varigonda (top row, left) and Alex Liu (top row, second from left), both seniors at Sharon High School, along with other high school student organizers of the Mustang Math Tournament.

Unlike other individual performance based math competitions, the Mustang Math Tournament requires that participants form a team of three to four students. Its founding principles are that competition should be collaborative, interesting, and fun.

The team-based competition was founded in 2020 by Ranasaria when he was a senior in high school. He vehemently disagreed with the individualistic focus he found at so many math competitions, finding them solitary pursuits and discouraging to students who might be less confident or skilled in math than the winners.

“The math world is so individualistic. It’s so focused on individual achievement,” says Ranasaria. Over time, he has found that what he loves about math is exploring a problem with someone, bouncing ideas off a friend, sharing “a-ha” moments of applying ideas to solve a problem, and making progress together with another person.

“Other tournaments feel like a test you take at school - 20 questions to solve in a given time limit that are then graded and awarded,” says Ranasaria. In contrast, Mustang Math emphasizes collaboration and fun. Everyone goes home with tee-shirts, stickers, and pins. “Each student feels seen, they feel like they are happy to be there…It’s a lot of effort on the organizing end to do all of this. But it’s something we care about so deeply,” he says.

The team approach at Mustang Math is even exemplified in the event planning. Volunteers form seven different teams that lead different aspects of the event planning. For example, there is one team to plan and write the competition math problems, there is a marketing/design team that takes care of the visuals, and there is a community engagement team in charge of newsletters. Almost all this work is carried out by high school students, emphasizes Ranasaria, who says he is one of the few adults in the organization.

“High school students are spending their limited free time planning the tournament,” he says. The planning for competition began in November or December last year, and although Ranasaria characterizes the high school volunteers as selfless, he notes that they are also gaining life skills – learning how to use spreadsheets, managing events, effectively communicating – while providing entertainment to “hundreds to thousands of middle school students.”

“When we get to the end of the tournament and we see the joy on the kids’ faces at the end of the day, it makes it all worth it,” he says.

At Thurston, middle schoolers faced Mustang math problems designed by high school volunteers that included: a grid-based logic puzzle (similar idea as Sudoku) in the Mounting Mayhem round; an experimental puzzle during the Mystery Mare round; and nine sets of problems in the fast-paced Gallup Round. 

While there were quiet points in the competition, at other times, it sounded energetic and social, as students collaborated and problem-solved together. The atmosphere was relatively relaxed, and not tense.

Photo by Westwood Minute/Darlene Wong Cancell. The ticking time on a 15-minute clock for the first round of the Mustang Math competition is projected on a large screen behind competitors.

After the participants completed the three rounds, and while event organizers tallied scores, the middle schoolers enjoyed non-competitive activities. There was origami paper with instructions thoughtfully provided by event organizers. An “Estimathon” challenged the students to estimate various quantities (i.e., the total number of ping pong balls that will fit in a school bus). A hidden puzzle could only be solved with clues that event organizers had hinted at throughout the tournament. A few of those clues were incorporated into the design on the event's free tee shirt.

When results were tallied, the top three finishers from each round were announced, followed by the names of overall competition winners.

Four teams had formed from students of Westwood’s Thurston Middle School. One of them, composed of sixth graders, “JJBL,” placed second in the Mounting Mayhem round. It's a round which is designed to be solved with a less traditional and more exploratory approach to logical thinking. Taking an initial from the first name of each of its members, JJBL is Thurston's own Julian Fung, Jason Xiong, Boyang Wu, and Lucas Yamaguchi.

Overall competition winners took home medals. They were the Radiuses (gold), The Limit Doesn’t Exist (silver) and HOLD YOUR HORSES! (bronze).

Photo by David Chen, courtesy of Mustang Math. The Radiuses, from Belmont, took first place in the Mustang Math Tournament: Amy Nguyen, Boya Yun, Brian Zhao, and Kevin Shi.

Photo by David Chen, courtesy of Mustang Math. Students from schools in Lexington and Hyde Park formed the team, The Limit Doesn't Exist, which took second place at the Mustang Math Tournament: Aster Temesgen, Shreyan Dutt, and Yonis Gulleth.

Photo by David Chen, courtesy of Mustang Math. HOLD YOUR HORSES!, a team of students from schools in Newton, Boston, Wellesley, and home school took third place at the Mustang Math competition: Alexandra Baskakova, Max Wang, Ria Vartak, and Siyona Agarwal.

Thanks to Arpit Ranasaria, Ankita Varigonda, Alex Liu, David Chen and Mustang Math for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.

Updated 4/2/2025 at 8:21 p.m. The names of members of team "JJBL" have been added. Clarifying edits have been made and a correction now identifies Mustang Math volunteer Alex Liu as a high school sophomore, not a senior, as was previously stated.

For hyperlocal news, subscribe to Westwood Minute!

You may also enjoy:

- Elementary School and Individual Winners of Westwood's 17th Annual Inter-Elementary Math Meet

- Westwood Cultural Council Reveals Community Recipients of 2025 Grant Awards

- Youngest Pupils Lead the Way: Results of WPS Elementary Schools' 100th Day of School Donation Drive for Westwood Food Pantry

- Westwood's Thurston Middle School Evacuated for Short Time in Response to Gas Leak and Electric Outage